Family Renew Community brings together religious congregations, businesses, civic and charitable organizations and individuals committed to fighting family homelessness in Volusia and Flagler counties.
People in all of these sectors have stepped up to help Family Renew and the families we serve through the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, we’d like to call attention in a special way to the contributions of the 21 religious congregations that are part of Family Renew Community — our faith-based trustees.
These congregations, including varied Christian denominations, Jewish and Unitarian Universalist traditions, support Family Renew Community’s work financially, with volunteer hours and in-kind contributions and in prayer on a regular basis.
The public health crisis has pushed many to go beyond their routine generosity. For instance, Tomoka United Methodist Church on every Thursday all summer long collected food and other essential items for delivery to the homeless families on our three residential campuses.
“The folks at Tomoka UMC are awesome! They approached us about helping our families and it came just at the right time,” Executive Director Tony Deobil told the Hometown News for an article about the project. “This has been a very challenging time for ministries like Family Renew Community. It truly demonstrates the significance of a village working together to combat homelessness, especially when it comes to families with children.”
Though our trustee congregations had to suspend in-person services to stop the spread of the coronavirus, and many saw a resulting slowdown in weekly collections, their financial contributions remained strong.
Each trustee congregation is eligible to appoint a representative to the Board of Trustees. These representatives, along with at-large trustees from our other sectors of support who serve without regard to their religious affiliation or lack thereof, set policy for the organization and provide governance. The board has remained active through the crisis, making decisions by email and meeting in video conferences.
If you belong to any one of these congregations, Family Renew is YOU!